Author: Ekmekjian Janet

OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS: NKR PARTICIPATION IN NEGOTIATION PROCESS AT DEFINITE STAGE TO BECOME NECESSARY

Arminfo
2007-05-24 12:03:00

Participation of Nagorno Karabakh in the negotiations process at
definite stage will become necessary, the French and Russian Co-chairs
of OSCE Minsk Group on Karabakh conflict settlement Bernard Fassier and
Yuri Merzliakov said at today’s press-conference in Yerevan. B. Fassier
recalled that NKR representatives had participated in negotiations in
the past and not the Co- chairs decided to disaffirm it. "The Co-chairs
think that participation of NKR representatives in negotiations at
definite stage will become not only useful but necessary and priority",
B. Fassier said. For his part, Y. Merzliakov said he fully agrees
with his French counterpart.

FEWER ISSUES REMAIN TO AGREE ON

KarabakhOpen
24-05-2007 16:42:28

"Nothing is decided unless everything is decided." On May 24 the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairs who mediate the talks over Karabakh reasserted
this approach in a news conference in Yerevan. Yuri Merzlyakov and
Bernard Fassier of the three co-chairs visited first Yerevan and
left for Baku this morning via Tbilisi. In Yerevan the co-chairs
met with the president, the foreign minister and the prime minister
of Armenia. They say there is progress, and they hope for the same
in Baku. The co-chairs did not visit Karabakh and did not meet
the leadership of Karabakh in Yerevan. Yuri Merzlyakov told news
reporters in a separate talk that he had had a telephone talk with
Arkady Ghukasyan.

Ghukasyan had told him he was busy and could not come to Yerevan
and the co-chairs were also too busy and did not have enough time to
visit Karabakh. Merzlyakov hopes that in about two weeks they will
visit the region again, this time all the three co-chairs together:
Fassier, him and Bryza. During the next visit they will go to Karabakh,
and if they do not have enough time, the leadership of Karabakh will
arrive in Yerevan and they will meet.

Generally the co-chairs say the involvement of the representative of
Karabakh in the talks at some moment is crucial. For the time being,
Armenia and Azerbaijan are negotiating the basic principles of the
agreement. In this connection Merzlyakov reminded that "nothing is
decided unless everything is decided." But he also says fewer issues
remain to agree on. There are no, and there cannot be new proposals,
there can be only details of implementation of the basic principles,
says the Russian co-chair. He says these details are discussed during
the meetings of the foreign ministers, whereas the co-chairs expect
global political approached from the meeting of the presidents.

According to Yuri Merzlyakov, the adoption of the basic principles
is important for the parties not to reject the agreement later as
they have done before. Merzlyakov says agreement on these principles
does not mean signing a definitive agreement. Elaboration of the
definitive agreement will start after agreement is reached on the
principles. The elaboration of a peace agreement will last long,
different specialists will be involved. Yuri Merzlyakov says the
agreement on the basic principles is essential to start work on the
agreement. He thinks the document that is on the ground is not such
as to satisfy both parties but it is balanced.

As to the militaristic statements of Azerbaijan, the co-chairs decline
to comment on them. They say they cannot comment on something they
did not hear.

Bernard Fassier says, however, that nobody in Moscow, Washington or
Paris thinks the war is a way to resolve the conflict. There is no
alternative to peace talks, the co-chairs say.

TEAM OF ARMENIA TO RECEIVE TEAM OF LIECHTENSTEIN ON MAY 31 AT FIRST STAGE OF 2nd GROUP OF EUROPE YOUTH FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Noyan Tapan
May 23 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 23, NOYAN TAPAN. The Europe youth football championship
will start on May 31. Teams of 51 countries from the 53 UEFA
member countries will participate at the qualification stage of the
championship. They were devided into 10 groups. Teams of Czechia,
Ukraine, Turkey and Liechtenstein are the rivals of the team of
Armenia involved in the 2nd group. The competition of the Armenian
football players with the latter will take place on May 31, in the
Hanrapetakan (Republic) sports ground of Yerevan. The youth team of
Armenia will start a teaching and training-preparatory gathering in
Yerevan on May 26.

ARMENIA SENDS NEW ROTATION OF TROOPS TO KOSOVO
By Hovannes Shoghikian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 23 2007

Armenia sent a fresh contingent of troops to Kosovo on Wednesday,
in a regular rotation of its small peace-keeping force serving there
under NATO command.

The platoon of 34 servicemen were to join a Greek army battalion
deployed in the east of the former Yugoslav province. They will rotate
in for the same number of Armenian soldiers that have completed their
six-month tour of duty.

The troops left Yerevan after a farewell ceremony attended by Defense
Minister Mikael Harutiunian and other top military officials. Many
of them have already served in Kosovo and Iraq where 46 Armenian
soldiers have been deployed since January 2005.

"We already have a steady contribution to international security,"
Harutiunian said in a speech at the ceremony. "In both Kosovo and Iraq,
we have acquired the reputation of a reliable partner."

The deployment of Armenian troops in Kosovo in February 2004 marked the
start of Armenia’s first-ever military mission abroad. The development
highlighted the strengthening of its security ties with NATO and the
United States in particular.

U.S. officials have expressed hope that Yerevan will also commit
troops for Western-led military operations in other conflict zones,
notably Afghanistan. Earlier this year, the U.S. military donated a
mobile field hospital to the Armenian army’s special peace-keeping
battalion, which provides personnel for the Iraq and Kosovo missions.

Speaking to journalists, Harutiunian said that a dispatch of Armenian
troops to Afghanistan is "not on our agenda today."

GRAVEYARD CLAIMED TO BE ARMENIAN BELONGS TO ROMANS

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
May 24 2007

Yusuf Halacoðlu, president of the Turkish Historical Society (TTK),
has announced that a graveyard in Mardin’s Nusaybin district that
had been claimed by the Armenians in fact dates to the Roman period.

During a press conference Halacoðlu said they had appealed to foreign
scientists to come and assist with the opening of the graveyard.

David Gaunt, a scientist from Switzerland, was the only one to
express interest.

Gaunt accepted the offer on condition that the research be conducted
without intervention from the Turkish administration. Gaunt began
studies with the TTK president and delegation on April 24. However
Gaunt soon realized that the photographs of the graveyard he had
seen were different from the graveyard in Nusaybin and thus decided
to return home without taking any soil or bone samples from the grave.

Reading the results of the soil and bone samples tested at Ankara
University’s engineering department, Halacoðlu said Turkish scientists
had determined that the bones to belong to the Roman period.

–Boundary_(ID_X9GLOrU3jiwgoBFgaIq6qQ)–

SARKISIAN LAUDS OSCE FOR ‘OBJECTIVE’ ELECTION VERDICT
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 22 2007

Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian thanked observers from the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Tuesday for their positive
evaluation of his government’s handling of Armenia’s parliamentary
elections which his Republican Party (HHK) won by a landslide.

"I think that with these elections we solved an important issue,
and I agree that a new standard was thereby set for the forthcoming
[presidential] elections," he was quoted by his office as telling
Boris Frlec, head of the observer mission deployed by the OSCE’s
Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

Sarkisian described as "impartial and objective" the mission’s
preliminary conclusion that the May 12 elections were held "largely
in accordance with international standards for democratic elections."

The verdict gave a massive boost to the international reputation of
the Armenian government and the legitimacy of the HHK victory. It
also sharply contrasted with the vote’s assessment by the Armenian
opposition and many civil society representatives.

Virtually all opposition contenders have rejected the official
vote results as fraudulent, alleging widespread voter intimidation,
vote buying and other forms of electoral fraud. The allegations were
echoed on Tuesday by the Dashink (Alliance) party of Samvel Babayan,
the former military leader of Nagorno-Karabakh. The final results
released by the Central Election Commission (CEC) over the weekend
showed Dashink winning 2.5 percent of the vote and only one seat in
the National Assembly.

In a written statement, Babayan’s party claimed that the CEC figures
"do not reflect the will of the people" due to "vote irregularities
registered in numerous polling stations." It also accused Western
observers of turning a blind eye to vote rigging.

The Armenian government’s press service quoted Frlec as insisting
at the meeting with Sarkisian that the elections were a "clear step
towards progress" and expressing hope that the authorities in Yerevan
will look into violations reported by his monitors. In particular,
the HHK, which effectively won an outright majority in parliament,
should consider initiating yet another reform of Armenia’s electoral
legislation, he said.

According to the statement, Frlec also noted that the OSCE mission
is still working on its final election report which is expected to
be issued next month. He had said at a May 13 news conference that
long-term ODIHR observers will specifically "compare" the CEC tally
with vote protocols issued by lower-level election commissions. Some
opposition leaders claim to have already found glaring discrepancies
in the official figures.

The ODIHR-led mission has so far refused to comment on the results
of the data verification. Its preliminary report said counting of
ballots was "bad or very bad" in about 20 percent of polling stations
visited by the foreign observers.

Sarkisian said it is "extremely important" that the observers’ final
findings "contain details and be specific."

The mission spokesman, Ivan Godarsky, told RFE/RL that Frlec met
Sarkisian as part of its "courtesy visits" to leaders of the main
Armenian parties which are aimed at having a better understanding of
the post-election situation in the country.

U.C. Berkeley Armenian Studies Program
Contact: Prof. Stephan H. Astourian
Tel.: (510) 643-8872
E-mail: [email protected]

The U. C. Berkeley Armenian Studies Program, the Armenian Film Festival, and
the Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies

Present the Bay Area Premiere of
"Rouben Mamoulian: The Golden Age of Broadway and Hollywood."
and
"Serguei Paradjanov, The Rebel."

Followed by a discussion with the director of these movies
Mr. Patrick Cazals (Les Films du Horla)
Monday, May 21, 2007
145 Dwinelle Hall (U.C. Berkeley) at 7pm
Admission Free

Nagorno-Karabakh President: Don’t believe the tales that Kashatagh
will be returned to Azerbaijan

20-05-2007 21:49:47 – KarabakhOpen

Don’t believe the tales that Kashatagh (Lachin) will be returned to
Azerbaijan, it will never happen. We liberated this territory not to
return. We must reconstruct and develop Kashatagh. The government of
Artsakh and Armenia will always focus on Kashatagh. It is our duty to
reconstruct all the territories that we liberated,’ said NKR President
Arkady Ghukasyan in his address to the celebration of 15 years of
liberation of the corridor of Lachin in Kashatagh on May 18. On this
day a number of events were held to mark the 15th anniversary of
liberation of Kashatagh.

AZERBAIJAN SUFFERED $7 BILLION BY ARMENIAN-OCCUPATION OF LACHIN

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 18 2007

Association for Civil Society Development in Azerbaijan (ACSDA) and
Public Union for Protection of Rights of Migrants and Internally
Displaced Persons in Azerbaijan held a round table on Lachin is
ancient Azerbaijan territory. He said in the prewar period, 63,000
Azerbaijanis lived in the region of Lachin. Gadir Nasirov, head
of Public Union for Protection of Rights of Migrants and Internally
Displaced Persons made a report on the damages inflicted to Azerbaijan
during Lachin’s occupation.

"During the Armenian occupation , one Azerbaijani city, one settlement
and 125 villages were destroyed, rare forest trees in 34 877 ha
territories were cut down and sold abroad. Azerbaijan suffered totally
$ 7 099 526 500 in result of the occupation of its territories by
Armenian forces.

Head of Association for Protection of Azerbaijan monuments Faig
Ismayilov reported on the subject "Armenian plan for Lachin’s
occupation and its fulfillment". According to him, the occupied
territory was of great strategically importance in the plans of
Armenians and Lachin corridor was connecting Karabakh separatists
with Armenia. He said there was special operation for the occupation
of Lachin. "Some days before Lachin’s occupation, its big civilian
settlements were fired by special Armenian military forces. But
Armenians try to cast a shadow on the events and divert international
community’s attention. Lachin, Gubadli, Zangilan, Kalbajar and other
regions were occupied by Armenian Armed Forces".

The round table participants applied to international bodies. The
application called on Armenians to withdraw from Azerbaijani
territories unconditionally.

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT AZERBAIJAN

ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 18, 2007 Friday

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will pay an official visit to
Azerbaijan on May 21-22, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Lavrov will meet with Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev, Prime
Minister Artur Rasi-zade and Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov.

The meetings will centre on the "implementation of the top-level
accords on bringing the inter-state relations to a qualitatively
new level by improving interaction in all spheres," the Foreign
Ministry said.

Lavrov and Mamedyarov "will discuss a possibility for deepening the
cooperation within the framework of the CIS, enhancing the coordination
of actions in international organizations".

"There will be review of steps for interaction in the UN, OSCE and
the Council of Europe".

The foreign ministers will also discuss Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.

"Russia is set to assist the sides in the conflict in finding a
compromise solution. But main responsibility for the final choice
of a settlement formula is with the Azerbaijanis and the Armenians,"
the Foreign Ministry said.

Russia "would be ready to support an option of solving the problem
that suits the sides, and in case of reaching a compromise accord it
will act as a guarantor of settlement".

Lavrov will discuss during his visit the matter of the Caspian Sea’s
status, security in the region and prospect for holding the second
Caspian summit.

"The assessment by Azerbaijan’s leader of the current state and
prospects of relations between our countries is important for us. For
Russia, Azerbaijan is an important strategic partner for a long-term
prospect."

"The economic aspect of cooperation is getting an increasing
importance. The high tempo of economic growth in Russia and Azerbaijan
increases the attractiveness of the countries in terms of the
development of mutually beneficial cooperation. Prospects open for
broadening the interaction in the fuel and energy sector, in the
field of research-intensive technology, the innovation activity,
as well as for broadening the economic ties between Russia’s regions
and Azerbaijan," the Foreign Ministry said.